Love's Melody
by Totally Anime
Summary: The piano is an instrument that plays the song. The song is made by the heart, thus making its purpose to connect one heart to another. When Maka's lost all memory of Soul, will his song connect these broken links back together? SoulxMaka
1. For Your Ears Only

TA: Okay, this is my first Soul Eater fanfic. I think I've got the characters down... but then again maybe not. -nervous laugh- I've only read up to like chapter 51 of the manga and I've still gotta see the anime so... I'm workin' on it. Hope you guys'll like it!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.**

**Love's Melody**

**Chapter 1: For Your Ears Only**

**---**

Class ended with its usual bang. No, I mean this quite literally. Dr Stein, along with his chair happily reunited with the less than neglected floor of the Shibusen hallway. The students all arose from their seats, raising the noise level as they did so. All, that is, except for a certain white haired boy who was sleeping soundly in his seat with his head buried into his arms. Even now, when the students were at their loudest, he slept there still, unmoving, aside from the steady rise and fall of his back.

The two had finally collected all required ninety-nine human souls. All that was left was the soul of a witch. Unable to find one close to them on Shinigami-sama's list, they decided to rest up a bit before going all out again. It was a bit of a vacation, but Soul seemed even more tired when he wasn't.

The blonde beside him heaved out a sigh. Maka Albarn shook her head as they were joined by several other people. She let her eyes linger on the boy for a while longer, studying him, observing him, until she was sure he was truly alright. These days, Soul would often lock himself up in his room and stay up all night, worrying Maka to death as he would sometimes break something in the middle of the night. He would have these all nighters and then sleep throughout the class as if he was the living dead.

They had already started a pattern now. Soul would sleep through class with Maka copying notes down for both of them. She would then leave him and hang out with the others while he slept in the classroom some more. Maka would reach the school entrance with her little group after having some fun and Soul would always be there, waiting for her to come home with him. He would lean against the doorframe with his hands in his pockets and a grin would always creep upon his face once she came into view, returning his smile with one of her own.

Yes, that was the routine they had followed for the past week. It never changed and she would always look forward to seeing Soul waiting for her at the door. It would give her a warm feeling inside her. She would truly then feel that she was not just a technician to him, but a friend as well. So then why? Why was it that even though she stood here with everyone, Soul was no where in sight?

"Maybe he went to take a piss," Black Star stated with a shrug, earning a look from both Tsubaki and Maka. "...What? He could be!!"

Tsubaki turned to Maka and said, "I'm sure he's probably still sleeping in the classroom. Why don't you look for him?" She gave her an assuring smile.

Maka smiled back. "Yeah, maybe." Soul was always, always _always_ there. It felt odd not to have him around like that and not be in the place that he should. It had felt like routine, like habit, like... his presence had already become a part of her. If Soul wasn't around, something would feel off, unbalanced. To Maka, he was a bit like something to lean on as she stood or as she walked. He helped her in so many ways that it just felt weird without him.

"Tsubaki's probably right, Maka," Liz encouraged.

"Yeah, we'll wait for you if you want, just in case he's not there," Kid said.

Maka felt troubled. With her friends acting like this, it seemed as if they were trying to assure her that he was there. It were as if... they thought she was extremely sad he wasn't there waiting for her. Then again... Would Soul just leave without her like that? It's not like Soul absolutely _had_ to be there. He was his own person too when he wasn't a scythe. She had just become so accustomed to him that she couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated. And after coming to that conclusion, a sinking feeling occurred in her chest.

"No, you guys can go. He's probably still sleeping like Tsubaki said." Maka grinned, hiding the disdain from her features. "I'll just give him a good Maka Chop to the head."

"Yeah! That'll get him to wake up!" Patty laughed as she thrust her fist into the air. "We'll see you tomorrow, 'kay Maka? Kid's gonna take me and sis to the mall!"

"Really? Have fun then." Maka said, ready to turn away from them. "I'll see you."

As she began to walk away, a chorus of 'bye's came from her friends as their receding footsteps complimented with their sudden eruption of laughter. Maka didn't bother to turn back, knowing it probably had something to do with either Kid and his symmetry or Black Star and his obsession with being a god.

She came closer and closer to the classroom, and as she did so, anger seeped into her mind. All of a sudden, she was angry. So angry. Enraged, even. She just felt like kicking Soul senseless for whatever reason. "What a brat, making me come all the way back here..." Maka muttered, opening the door with slight annoyance

"Hey Soul, you in here?" Maka questioned as she stepped into the classroom. With her eyes set on Soul's seat, she made her way up the steps, looking around as she did so just in case Soul was elsewhere. She had a clear view from the door that he wasn't there, but he might have left his stuff without noticing. It would be just like Soul to lose something and come back looking for it.

The classroom was empty. Nothing moved and there was only silence filling the room. Every seat was empty, every desk was cleaned off of papers and even eraser shavings were no where in sight in the large room. She looked over Soul's desk in search of some sign of him. And there it was. A little yellow post-it it note smacked right down onto Soul's desk.

Maka raised an eyebrow. "What is this?" She reached out and picked the slip of paper in between her fingers. "'Maka,'" It read. "'I'm in the music room. -Soul' Music room? What is he doing in the music room? ...Do we even have a music room?" She pondered a bit and twirled the paper around just to see if he had written anything else. She sighed and shoved the note into her coat pocket. "Well, music room it is then." Nonchalantly, she exited the dull classroom, heading for her favorite person.

Maka had never been into the music room, hence the thought for Shibusen not having one, but then again, Shibusen has everything. I think Soul had asked Kid about it once before. He seemed pretty interested in it, but only she could have noticed. She was after all, first and foremost his meister. Not questioning it until he came to her, she silently let it go. If it wasn't important, he didn't need to tell her.

"I'm pretty sure Kid said that it was in this hall," Maka muttered. Once the words escaped her lips, a soft, but strikeningly powerful song began to play. At first, she thought that it was all in her head; she simply thought it was a replay of the song Soul played for her long ago, but as she continued to walk, that soft melody became stronger and clearer with every step she took. "Can't be..."

Maka hesitated at the point where the music became the loudest. The song was just as powerful as before, entrancing her like no other song had. She could feel him now. She could sense his wavelength, yes, but that wasn't how she knew. She could feel him through the song... that this person _was_ Soul. Through the song, she could even feel Soul there, right there beside her, playing his song for her.

Soul had the nerve to say that her musical IQ was low, but how could he say that when she thinks that he plays the most beautifully among all of them? He had a strange way of playing and had a much different style than most, but it was what made Soul so interesting to her; it was what made their partnership so unique. They were quite the opposites after all.

The song came to an elegant close, sending the sudden rise of her heartbeat steadily to its usual rhythm. It was only then did she notice that the beat of her heart rose and died along with the song, as if the song itself were telling a story that only her heart could understand.

A soft knock came from the other side of the door just as Soul finished his little exercise, a warm up so to say for his big show that was soon to come. He grinned widely, knowing exactly who it was.

Maka let herself in, having the feeling that she didn't need to knock in the first place. There it was again. That same feeling she would have when Soul would wait for her by the door, flashing his toothy grin while she approached him. Her nerves were suddenly relaxed as that protected feeling reappeared. The anger from before was long forgotten and now she was only happy that Soul was in front of her, acting like a brat as usual.

The room was, like all other rooms in Shibusen, white and perfectly symmetrical with two of each instrument, but there was a single instrument in the middle of the room that had no other copy of it anywhere in the room. It stood in the light shining from the large window, accenting its pitch black coating. There was not a speck of dust on it and the only thing making it even better, was her weapon.

"Hey," Maka greeted. "So what's up, Soul? Why were you in here?" She stopped in front of the piano stool where Soul sat comfortably, the sun glowing brilliantly behind him. She fidgeted slightly when he looked up at her. It was his usual grin, yet there was something off about it. Something different, at the very least. Maka couldn't quite point it out, but there was definitely something on Soul's mind.

"You wanted me to play, right?" Soul asked, turning his attention back to the sleek black grand piano shining on its own without anyone's help. He didn't say anymore; instead, he placed his fingers in their proper positions, stretching out his lithe fingers as he did so, on the row of clean white keys.

Maka nodded. She wasn't sure if he noticed, but it seemed like it enough for he began his song with a new story to tell.

She had half expected him to start off with a shattering beat, breaking the feeling of leisure within her. She waited for the upbeat, heart racing tune of a tragic melody flow from his able fingers. Maka had prepared herself, gripping the hem of her skirt anxiously. She wanted to hear it again. The song that made Soul him. The song that was Soul himself.

Her expectations were ripped apart when he pressed but a single note with his right pinky finger, holding it down for four beat. He then began to play a sweet melody, that brought that warm feeling back to the surface. He pressed, at most two notes at a time, gradually getting more complex as the song continued on, speeding up in some places and returning to its slow yet still lovely tune the next.

Soul had furrowed his eyebrows as he played, other times his eyes would soften and then there were times he would simply smile as he played, but if he thought Maka would think nothing of it, he was wrong. Maka did notice. His expression would change as the melody would. She wondered if he realized it himself; the expression he wore would sometimes make Maka's heart race out of random. He would smile gently, his eyes softening as he stroked the piano quickly and swiftly, and though he was not looking at her, it felt like he was.

Maka's hands left her skirt and rose to her chest where she had unknowingly clenched it into a fist, trembling with excitement. She could feel him again, and she was so desperately trying to translate what these sounds, these grouped up notes tried to tell her. She couldn't find words to describe how she felt; she just knew that she was... _happy_.

Pushing down on the last note with his left pinky finger, Soul let it drag on, signalling the end of his performance. When the note finally subsided down to nothing, he adjusted himself on the stool so that a leg was on either side of it. He glanced up at his technician, wondering if she understood.

He observed Maka's stance, shifting from foot to foot. He rolled his eyes and patted the part of the stool between him and Maka. "Sit before you get too tired to walk home. I don't want to carry you y'know. You're pretty heavy for a girl with a flat chest."

Maka slammed a thick, harcover book down onto the obnoxious boy's head, muttering the words "Maka Chop." He was sent crumbling onto the floor bleeding a river out of his head.

"Ugh, what are you trying to do? Make me stupid?!" Soul complained. He pressed the palms of his hands onto the reopened wound that was gushing by the second. He'd eventually get a scar after all the times it's healed and reopened. He swore that when he got older and went bald, there wouldn't be a shiny gleam to his head. Oh no, he'd have a scar right down the middle of his head and the only one to blame would be the blonde with the pigtails: Maka.

"You're already stupid, trust me." Maka rolled her eyes. Ignoring the grumbles he whispered under his breath as he stubbornly sat back onto the stool returning to his original position, Maka asked a question that anyone would have asked. "That last song you played was really different from your first one."

"Huh..." Soul thought for a moment. "That was the kind of person I am. This is different. Entirely different."

"Really?" Maka asked, arching a single brow. He was right. It was entirely different, but she already knew that. She just wanted to know why. All traces of the darkness that flowed so easily within his music had been lost the moment he began to play with that first stroke. It didn't hold the same strange feeling from when she first heard it; it unsettled her somewhat. "So what does this song represent now?"

"Hm... Souls in love I guess," Soul laughed. "What a cheesy title! It's really uncool..."

"But it fits," Maka said, surprising Soul. She smiled at him. "It really does sound like souls in love." She averted her eyes to the piano, trying to avoid Soul's gaze if she had said anything stupid. "I'm not an expert in music but when you played it, I was really happy. It doesn't matter if it wasn't anything like the other one. I loved it all the same."

"Hm?" Soul asked curiously, leaning forward so that he could inspect her face, which was currently hidden by her hair. "What was that last part?

"I loved it..." Maka repeated in a low mumble, trying not to flatter Soul too much before he got a big head about it.

"That's good to know." Soul grinned, exposing his perfectly sharpened teeth. "You'd better not forget it, understand? There's no way I'm playing it for you again." He pulled down the cover for the keys. It was the movement telling Maka that she would not hear him play again that day. "After all, you're the only one that'll hear it." He whispered this with the intention for it to be heard only by him. Before Maka could question him, or even have a second to think about it, Soul got up and turned away from Maka, making his way to the door, leaving her to stare blankly at him curiously.

"Hey, wait up, Soul!" Maka called after him, standing up quickly and trying to push the stool in before he could reach the door. "Will you play it again for everyone else?" She grabbed the sleeve of his sweater, trying to make him walk her pace. She pulled on it incessently when he wouldn't answer.

Soul sighed. "No way. It'd be a waste of time."

"Why is that?" The blonde looked up at him with large green eyes.

Soul looked away, making sure to look indifferent. "Because you've already heard it." His lazy eyes roamed the school hallways. They scanned the hallways for anyoneor anything of interest. He just needed something to get his mind away from the pestering girl beside him.

"So what? I won't mind hearing it again." Maka insisted, really wanting him to play once more.

A small piece of paper was hidden behind a lot of the other big ones, making the only thing visible on it were the words, "Witch of Memories." This was his escape.

"Hey, Maka, let's finally get that last soul to turn me into a Death Scythe." Soul said, ripping it off from the extracurricular board and handing it to her in place of his jacket.

"'Capture the Witch of Memories, Kioku. Requirements: Stable and solid hearts that will not give out.'" Maka read. "Yeah, we should do it!" Once again, she stuffed the paper into her pocket without inspecting it further. She didn't even bother to give it a second thought when the bottom half had been ripped off.

On that second half was a warning.

"Beware of her tricks. Memories can be warped and forgotten. Do not forget who you are and what you have fought for. Do your absolute best!"

---

TA: Ahhhh finished. :D I have been wanting to do this story for a couple of days now, but exams are preventing me from doing so! D: Y'know something? I realized that this is the first heterosexual (straight people) story that I've done in a long while. I think my last one was back in like... 2005 or 2006! Hahaha! Well, I hope I can succeed with this fanfic like my Kingdom Hearts (Akuroku AxelxRoxas) ones. Thanks for reading and tell me if I did okay with the characters! :O Much appreciated!


	2. Stage Fright

TA: Hi hi! :D omg I got reviews! I was so afraid I wouldn't get reviews. I'm so happy that I did though! Thanks to everyone! As a reply to Mikki05, I have no idea how to teach you about how to write a story! Haha, but I guess I can tell you how I do it. In this case, I took a piece of Soul Eater and expanded on it. I took Soul's ability to play the piano (like most authors do with SoulxMaka fics) and added details that I liked and continued to add in some things until I got a storyline that I judged to be decent. :D There are lots of things to go off of. There's Soul's will about not letting his meister getting hurt or dying for his master. For the latter, I could probably come up with a story where Maka got severely injured and Soul gets haunted by it everytime he sees her. Afterall, he did say he would die for his master and here she is wincing in pain. It'd be a sad story though. D;

**Soul Eater Fact #1:** The word "meister" isn't a word. :O Well, not an English word anyway. It's actually from a German word that means "master." Don't believe it? Look it up ! LoL ...If everyone knew this but me, then I'm really retarded! Haha! I only found out recently about it too. :P

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.**

**Love's Melody**

**Chapter 2: Stage Fright**

**---**

"Soul! Breakfast is done! Wake up!" Maka hollered from the kitchen as she let her frilled yellow apron fall from her fingertips and onto the back of her couch. She took calm, easy steps toward Soul's room where it was absolutely silent. She had already started to fear for the worst. A rise of anger shook Maka as her hand grasped the cold metal knob. If she found those two together in bed again, she'd do a lot more than just kick Soul out of the window... "Soul?"

Soul's messy white hair poked out from the top of the blankets with no intention of making any movement. The only sign of him was just that, his hair, leaving the rest of him hidden beneath the cover of his light blue comforter.

Maka relaxed her facial features, only now noticing that her eyebrows had already begun to furrow together. She examined the boy's room. With a sigh, she picked up a piece of crumpled paper from the floor and dropped it into the trash can by Soul's desk. She froze at the sight. That paper ball that she had just dropped in there was not the only one of its kind. In fact, the entire basket was filled to the brim with scrunched up papers.

"What... were you doing in here Soul?" Maka whispered, seeing another one not too far from her. Then another one. And another one. Maka's eyes widened in surprise as the whole room was covered with one. Every part of the floor was scattered with pieces of tossed paper meant for the trash.

The blonde curiously picked one up and unraveled the contents within, every so often looking at Soul's sleeping form to see if he had awaken from the rustling of paper. Her eyes scanned the sheet, understanding at once what it was. It was a music sheet, with the title "Souls in Love." And on it was a single note; on the second line was a circle. Other than that, it was completely blank.

She picked up another one and on it were the same contents aside from another note at the very end of the sheet atop the first line from the top. Beneath both notes was the letter "G" written in pen as if to mark its permanent placement there.

Maka wasn't sure if that was the proper way to write a song, but it seemed a bit odd to her for Soul to come up with only the first and last notes. She scrunched it back up, letting it drop to the floor into its original position. She observed Soul's room even more, including the weapon who had not moved nor stirred since she had entered. That, too, seemed odd to her. Soul wasn't a deep sleeper and he only slept like this when he was incredibly tired.

There on his messy desk was several sheets of paper stacked up neatly and perfectly in front of the desk. Maka looked it over. The final copy. The complete structure of the song that made her feel all happy inside. She picked up the stack and counted the pages. She grinned at all five pages of beauty that was alien to her.

She couldn't help but feel a bit prideful. Soul was a musical genius, and she was his technician and also his friend. Was it wrong to feel proud because your weapon was talented? Was she weird? To be honest, she didn't think so at all. She really didn't think it was wrong to believe that. This is because her Soul was, even though he didn't always act it, was actually a proper gentleman---

Maka's high-pitched scream echoed throughout the apartment building, shaking its entire foundation as well as sending Soul's papers flying about the room. She whipped around to slap Soul straight across the face for scaring her out of her skin. Her face had turned red from embarrassment, loss of breath, and the always traditional anger.

"SOUL YOU JERK!!" Maka bellowed once Soul skillfully dodged her slap. "How dare you fake sleep and scare me!"

Soul laughed incessently as Maka continued to try to beat the living hell out of his human body. "Chill out Maka! It was way too tempting! You can't blame me!" Soul defended, running away from his obviously enraged meister. He sprinted out of his room and over to the living room where he put a couch between him and the fuming blonde.

"Well then, if you're so sure of your innocence, why're you running?!" Maka mocked. She chased after the male and hated the difference in their physical abilities as she suddenly had a troublesome couch in the way of her prey. She let out an aggravated groan before jumping onto the couch and lunging for Soul.

"Because you're angry!!" Soul still continued to laugh as he caught Maka in the air, afraid of them landing on the coffe table behind him, before swinging her around until they landed on the couch with him beneath her.

Maka took this oppurtunity to give Soul a good smack to the head with her fist. Yes, she was really angry this time so she used her actual fist! Now that's not a force to be reckoned with!

"Idiot!" Maka muttered once Soul's head fell back against the couch. Although, as she continued to watch the swirling of Soul's eyes, she felt the edges of her mouth tug themselves into a smile. "God, I can never be mad at you for too long." She put her forehead against Soul's bleeding one and grinned. "You'd better watch youself Soul Eater Evans because no matter what you do, I'm never taking another partner that's not you. You're stuck with me forever. Didn't you know that?"

---

Snow crunched loudly beneath Maka's thick boots as she and Soul approached an elegant clock tower, standing tall for everyone to see. They stopped right before the snow ended. Looking up, both Maka and Soul had a new determination. This was it. Their last soul, and unlike before, this is really a witch, not a deceiving little cat.

The tower was untouched by the snow. About ten feet out all around it remained grassy and dry. It was supposed to be old, broken down and rusted out, but the tower they gazed upon now was magnificent. Its stone walls were strong and sturdy, still holding the face of the clock at its high point.

"There's definitely a witch here. No normal person could do this, not even Blair!" Maka exclaimed. She turned to face Soul with her eyes burning with confidence. "We'll finally turn you into a Death Scythe with this witch's soul!"

"It's about time, Maka!" Soul grinned as he held out his hand for his tech to take. "We'll finally be able to beat your dad and make something of ourselves. We'll be the very definition of 'cool'!!!"

Maka slammed her palm against Soul's as they stared each other in the eyes, both feeling the excitement and filled with the same desire to get the last soul. She nodded in agreement. "Of course. You'll be the most powerful and coolest weapon in the whole world. I'll make sure of it!"

"You better!" Soul laughed before transforming into his scythe form.

Maka grasped Soul into her hands as she propped him up against her shoulder. "You can count on it."

The two entered the barrier that the witch Kioku put up. It wasn't one to keep anyone out, but to preserve the time between the clocktower and the outside world. Although that is so, they were already spotted the moment they stopped in front of the tower. Maka and Soul had no idea what awaited them inside, but they knew that they would get this witch's soul one way or another. There was no room for another screw up. This was it. The time that they had been waiting for ever since the "Blair Tragedy" that had unmistakably taken several years off their lives.

Maka could sense the witch's soul. It was obvious with nothing masking its presence. It just stayed in a single place, unmovingly. It waited for them and it was certainly confident that it didn't need to hide.

"This witch isn't even using 'Soul Protect.'" Maka stated, causing the gears in her head to start turning. "Is she that confident that she'll kill us?"

"She's just stupid! Let's get this over with Maka." Soul said, trying to rid Maka of her worries.

Maka nodded. She proceeded further, opening the door that entered into the tower. She walked in with light, careful steps all the while keeping her guard up and her grip on Soul tight. They went further into the tower with not even a bit of trouble. It was almost insulting that the witch wasn't trying to rip their heads off with blasts of magic the moment they entered the tower. Instead, it stood its ground at the same place Maka sensed it to be long ago.

"This is getting really uncool," Soul muttered. "Where the hell is that witch?!"

"You called?" A soft yet threatening whisper beside Maka's ear sent a chill down her back.

Maka jumped away from the voice and whirled to face the witch, the sense of fear still present in her heart. She came face to face with a brunette that looked about the same age as her, maybe even younger. Maka nearly let her guard down at the sight of the girl. Part of her hair was tied up into a pigtail off to the side of her head while the rest of her dark auburn hair fell to her back in soft waves.

"You... You can't be so..." Maka trailed off.

"_Young_?" Kioku smirked lightly. "I have taken the memory of someone who knew me when I was young, and made it so that the Kioku you see now is the young Kioku of many years ago. I have done the same with this clocktower." She gazed up above at the ceiling. "Without me, this tower would be broken, useless and more than forgotten. It'd probably have been torn down. So I came to give it back its light."

"Oh stop trying to sound so sincere!" Soul scowled. "We know what you're really trying to do. With this clocktower, you're trying to make time reel backward so that you can change the past!"

"So then, you've come to fight me, have you?" She asked curiously as she cocked her head to the side, a slight trace of innocence in her voice. Her eyes were unfocused and glazed over, almost as if...

"Soul... She's blind." Maka breathed out when the girl's eyes didn't watch her every move the way every other opponent had before. She was not scrutinizing every slight movement that Maka made, instead, she simply stared in one spot without ever moving her eyes.

"But her eyes are open..." Soul said, a bit unbelieving.

"But take a look at her eyes. Do they seem like they can tell one thing from another?" Maka questioned to prove her point, all the while never taking her guard down.

"I'm blind, not deaf mind you," Kioku stated as she closed her eyes in annoyance. "I can hear quite well. I can even hear your thoughts. Every last thought you had, I know it because it is a memory. I know everything about you." She stepped forward as she raised her hand toward Maka's face. "I know every secret you have ever harbored and I even know those things that you have forgotten. I know it all."

Maka backed up, tightening her grip on Soul as she did so. Her eyes scanned the girl up and down. This couldn't have been right. If she had done proper research this witch should have been nearly five hundred years old. She may be a witch but even she can't stop herself from aging.

Kioku's white dress fluttered at her knees with every step. She ignored the slipping of her long sleeves down her arm while her rather large boots sounded off the floor, accenting her somewhat high pitched voice.

"Truth be told..." Kioku continued, not stopping her advance toward Maka. "_I can see right through you._"

"Maka, watch out!!" Soul yelled as a warning toward his technician.

At that moment, she lunged at Maka, her eyes fierce and her small body began to glow with a soft blue light. Maka evaded her with hardly any space between them. She jumped off to the side and pushed herself to her feet before Kioku could get another chance to attack. It was then that Maka remembered her reason for being here.

"Witch of Memories, Kioku!" Maka exclaimed, her confidence back in place. Her heart and soul no longer wavered in front of the girl before her. Instead, she was stable and strong in her will to defeat the witch. She twirled Soul around her fingers before holding him in a fighting stance. "We've come for your soul!!"

Kioku straightened herself, brushing the creases in her dress away as she did so. She glared at Maka. "If you don't back off now, I'll take that which is most precious to you, my dear technician." Kioku threatened with venom in her words.

Maka knew that she had meant every word she said. She should be afraid. Yes, she should be. So why wasn't she? Her eyes lowered down to Soul who still had that determined expression across his features. Ahh right, this was why. It was because she wasn't alone. Even if she lost what was most important to her, she still had Soul. She wasn't alone. She had him by her side. She had Soul.

"Don't listen to her Maka." Soul said. "We can't go back now. It'd be way too lame. So there's only one way to go." He grinned maniacally. "And that's forward. Let's do this! Maka!!!!"

"I got it!!!" Maka sprinted for Kioku at top speed, raising Soul only once she had gotten close to the young witch.

It was barely visible in the ferocity of the moment, but it was there, present on the witch's face. Kioku was smiling. Her pink lips were curved up into a small smile that was far from innocence. "So that's it," she whispered. "The thing that is most precious to you is not a thing, but a person. It is him." She raised her hand in front of her, holding an old style pocket watch in her hand. She held it in front of her, putting it between her and the offensive team. "I will take him from you."

Before Maka could react to Kioku's strange counter, she and Soul were enveloped in a blinding blue light. Maka fumbled about with her fingers only to find them empty. Where was he?! He was there in her hands just a second ago. Where was he?! She searched her hands for her weapon, for her partner. The only thing she could grasp was air. She couldn't feel him anywhere, not even his soul.

"Soul!!!" Maka yelled out into the white abyss. "Soul! Where are you?! Soul!!" She turned every which way, but never moving from her spot in hopes that Soul would find her. "SOUL!!!!!!"

_"Hey Papa, who's that?"_

Maka whirled around at the voice. It was her own, but she hadn't said anything.

_"He's the youngest of the Evans family. His name is Soul Eater."_

She furrowed her eyes in confusion. That reply was certainly her father's but... She had experienced it before. This was a memory. A memory of when she first found out about Soul. Just as she thought it, an image was displayed before her. She smiled at the thought; it was their first meeting. After that, her Papa would tell her, 'It was a surprise to a lot of people, but he's actually a weapon.'

_"It was a surprise to a lot of people, but he's actually a weapon."_

Then she would say, 'Really? That's weird. None of the other Evans have the blood of a weapon right?'

_"Really? That's weird. None of the other Evans have the blood of a weapon right?" Maka's eyes were glued to the crimson eyed boy. He was standing in the corner, but was nothing like a wallflower. He had the natural born charisma that made him impossible to look over. He was just standing there with his hands in the pants pockets of his black tuxedo._

Papa would reply with, 'Yes, that's right. Maka, do you want to talk to him? I'm pretty sure he's about your age.'

_"Yes, that's right. Maka, do you want to talk to him? I'm pretty sure he's about your age."_

Then she would say, 'Yeah, okay. He looks pretty lonely anyway' and walk over to him with a smile.

_"Ugh, no way! He looks creepy and just plain weird! I don't think I'd ever want to talk to that guy let alone have him as a weapon!" She turned on her heel, forever turning her back onto what could have been. She did not take even a moment's hesitation nor did she look over her shoulder to regret her decision. Instead, she kept her steady pace away from the boy, moving farther and farther away to the point that they were no longer in each other's sights._

Maka's eyes widened. "What?!" She yelled. "I would never say that! I was supposed to agree and meet him for the first time!!!" She watched herself turn her back on Soul and screamed. "NO! You're going the way!! Go to him!! Go!!! Don't!!! You _must_ meet him!!!! You have to!!!!" She punched the floating image angrily making it disappear like smoke.

_"If you don't back off now, I'll take that which is most precious to you, my dear technician."_

Maka froze. She had forgotten all about the witch. "What... What did you do to me?! Where is Soul?!"

"I warned you." Kioku stepped away from the cover of the extremely opaque white around them. "And now I've taken action."

She grit her teeth together and growled furiously at Kioku. "Give. Him. Back. To. Me." Maka clenched her fists together and shook with rage. "If you don't, I swear I'll destroy you."

"You've already sworn to that, need I remind you." Kioku waved her hand in the air. "With or without him, you've already sworn to kill me, so what difference would it make to me?" She smiled at Maka eerily. "I just feel a lot better when it's the you _without him_."

"Give Soul back!!" Maka screamed as loudly as she could muster. She grabbed Kioku by the collar of her dress and lifted her up with every intention of beating the girl to a bloody pulp. It no longer mattered if she was cute, young and innocent. She just wanted her weapon back.

"No." Kioku breathed out, disappearing from Maka's grasp just as the image had done earlier. "If you want him back, find the connection. Make that connection for it has just been broken. Find what is used to bring it together and surely, you will find him." The voice now seemed to come from all around her; she was everywhere all at once. "I have no confidence you will find it, but I am not so cruel. Like a chain that has broken in half, find the tool to make it one again."

Maka's breathing slowed suddenly. Her forehead was hot and sweat dripped from all over, but she felt cold. A chill ran down her spine as everything slowly faded from her view. The white became black and her hands were becoming distorted as she held them in front of her face, examining them. She swayed from side to side, unable to keep her balance, but trying to keep consciousness. She could only hear Kioku's voice in her head before everything seemed to just fade away.

_"With everything you harbor in your soul... play me a song."_

---

Soul froze where he was. He moved his fingers about in his... black suit? What the...? Soul examined the floor. It was intricately detailed with designs only his family would care about. His family... His home? Why was he home? Come to think of it, why was he also at a party wearing a tux. Just a moment ago, he was fighting with Maka.

He was standing in the corner with a leg propped up against the wall behind him to keep him from towering over. He had always liked standing like this. It had a certain feeling that seemed so fit for him. He wasn't sure why he was here, but everything just seemed too familiar.

He stole a peek towards the groups of people all around him. Only two interested him. From where he stood he could already see her. She was hard to look over considering the fact she was the only one in pigtails at a formal party. She was talking to Deathscythe-sama, but would glance over to him from time to time.

"Isn't this..." Soul whispered to himself as he let his eyes drift back down to the floor. "When she first came to talk to me?" He grinned at the floor and resisted the temptation to laugh out loud. Any moment now when the slow song would play, she would come to him with a huge smile and introduce herself as Maka Albarn, the scythe technician. From there, he'd ask her to dance just because he wanted to amuse himself.

There. The signal. The slow song began to play itself out, letting all the couples in the room know that it was their time. Soul waited... and waited some more, and so when his technician didn't come to him, he felt like the back of his head being slammed into the wall.

He glared up to the spot where she was once standing. "What the hell is taking you so damn long Maka?!" He growled angrily. His anger was immediately extinguished when he saw her turn around swiftly, leaving him behind to stay in the corner. "Ma... ka...?" Soul pulled his hands out of his pockets and stood on both feet, ready to run after her. "Hey, Maka, where do you think you're going?!" It didn't seem like she could hear him at all. In fact, it didn't seem like anyone could. "Maka!"

Soul took two steps forward with every intention to break out in a run when she would not turn around. Before he got the chance to though, everything disappeared.

"Huh?" He grumbled, looking around him.

"Poor little scythe boy," a mockingly sad voice wimpered. "It must be so sad to lose your technician."

"I didn't lose my technician!" Soul shot back at her. He switched his arm into a blade. He just wanted to rip her head off and send her to the grave at any chance he got.

"_Don't be so sure!"_

---

Soul shot upward from his spot on the ground, only to hear the sound of Maka's screams. He rushed over to her without any hesitation and tried to block out reocurring images from his dream.

"Maka! Maka! Are you okay? Hey!" Soul cried out, shaking Maka lightly. He didn't know what was happening to her, but after that light, they were suddenly thrown out of the tower and into the freezing snow. Everything just seemed to go into disarray when Maka started screaming things that seemed random and out of place to him. She had begun thrashing in the snow now like she was in the middle of a nightmare.

Soul clenched his fist in Maka's sweater as he glared at the snow. He was an idiot, an absolute idiot. What could he do for his meister when she was fighting in a place he couldn't reach her? He took her into his arms and no matter how much she threw her arms about, he held her tightly until she would stop. She would elbow him in the gut, punch him in the face, kick him in the stomach and kneed him in a place that was rather painful compared to most places, but he only held her all the more closer. If he didn't know better, he'd say that she could have suffocated in his embrace at this point.

"Maka, come back here." Soul whispered into her ear as he closed his eyes. "I don't want you fighting alone. Maka... Wake up!"

---

"How long has he been here?" Deathscythe-sama asked the gray haired doctor.

"Ever since she's been brought in. That boy won't leave her side." Stein sighed as he brushed his hand through his hair. "He won't eat unless I set the food down in front of him. He won't sleep and stays up until he passes out without his knowing. He won't leave her side at all for any reason."

"That boy..." Deathscythe-sama breathed out a long breath. He shook his head before smiling warmly. "He's a good kid."

"Yeah, but at this rate, he'll be occupying the bed beside Maka." Stein looked into the infirmary where an unconscious Maka was laid out onto a bed with Soul at her side, holding her hand all the while. "He even gave his report to Shinigami-sama in there."

Deathscythe-sama nodded. "He cares about her a lot. He is her weapon. He must be blaming himself for not being able to protect her well enough." He looked at Stein in the eyes. "How much longer do you think she'll be like that?"

"I can't say, but it should be soon-"

"Maka!!" came Soul's excited voice. It was the first sign of life and happiness that had come from the boy for the past three days.

The two males whipped their heads toward the room. Deathscythe-sama was the first to run into the room, a worried expression crossed his face. When his eyes met with clueless green ones, he heaved out a sigh of relief. "Oh, Maka, my baby!!" He jumped forward and took his daughter into his arms in a tight, fatherly hug.

"Ah! Papa! Get off of me!" Maka complained as she tried to push away her dramatic papa in vain. "Come on!"

"Looks like you're feeling better." Stein commented. He puffed out the smoke from his cigarette and smiled at Maka. "Thank God. This guy's been like the living dead ever since you were taken in here." He pointed his thumb toward Soul who was staring at Maka in shock.

"This guy?" Maka turned to face Soul, her expression unchanging.

"Maka, you're finally awake..." Soul slowly began to smile for the first time in days. "I'm glad."

"Uhm... thank you but..." Maka examined Soul's face a bit more. "Who are you?"

Soul froze. The calm that had come back into his system was thrown out the window and replaced with a feeling of dismay, sadness and so much more. He couldn't describe this tormenting feeling in him, but he just knew he didn't want to feel it. It felt like his insides were being ripped out and the darkness was eating away at him from the inside out, like his heart was being clenched in an iron fist that wouldn't let go. He was being torn apart but no one could see it.

"Wh... What did you say?" Deathscythe-sama asked warily. He placed a hand on her forehead to check for a fever. "Maka... That's Soul... Your weapon."

"I don't have a weapon." Maka stated in a matter-of-factly voice.

Soul couldn't say anything; his entire body went numb and his mind was blank. Here, in front of Maka, in front of the grandest stage he could ever think of, he could not think nor speak. It was like being on stage for the first time and everything in his mind just disappeared, but being Soul, it had never happened before. He had never feared being on stage. It was in his blood to perform. But this feeling of nervousness, of fear...

She asked again. "Who are you?"

It was just like stage fright.

---

TA: Whew! I got it done! :D So like... About this story, it probably won't be very long. Most likely, it won't be over 10 chapters. Eheheh.... Sorry about that. I just don't know how I could possibly extend such a simple storyline to be that long.


	3. Accompaniment

TA: Okay so like, the weirdest thing ever. Well, not really, but it was a shock to me! There was a person with a _similar _story to this one. There are differences, but while I was reading it, I was like 'nuh-uh... NUH-UHHHH!' the whole time! LoL But whatever, I'll try to make this one original. Hey, do you guys know the song "Soul's Crossing" by T.M. Revolution? Yes, it's the same people that made Resonance, the theme song of Soul Eater, but I like Soul's Crossing better. It just sounds... better for lack of better words, haha.

**Soul Eater Fact #2:** Ever wanted to know the difference between the manga and anime, but never bothered to look? Well, I'll tell you. :D In the anime, the whole story is based upon catching these so called "Kishin Eggs" but in the manga, the Kishin doesn't actually come in until it gets to be around chapter sixteen or something. The manga says that to become a Death Scythe, one must capture ninety-nine evil human souls and one witch soul. In the anime, it's all about the kishin eggs. Also, in the manga, there's only one big kishin whose name is Asura. Since I haven't seen all the episodes, there could be more, but I have yet to point them out!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.**

**Love's Melody**

**Chapter 3: Accompaniment**

xXx

"Soul. Soul! Soul, snap out of it!" Black Star slammed the palm of his hand onto Soul's cheek, creating a hand print on the other boy's face. When he got no response from him, he let out an aggravated groan. Black Star shook the unmoving boy by his shoulders roughly, showing no mercy to the boy who had just received the shock of his life. Then, Black Star realized something that his pride could not shove to the back of his head. "Soul... HOW DARE YOU IGNORE THE GREAT BLACK STAR!" All of a sudden there was a flurry of punches all aimed for Soul's face. "Listen to me damn it! Don't think you can just ignore me like that and get away with it! This is divine punishment!"

Soul adjusted his head accordingly, just enough to avoid the attack. He did this, but there was not much effort put into it. Soul's eyes were dazed and unfocused. For Soul, he could only hear Maka's voice; Maka's rejection of his existence.

_'Who are you?'_ The sence played again and again, over and over until Soul could remember it intricately and perfectly. If memories could be erased so easily, he would wish that this one could be taken away. _'Who are you?'_

Soul closed his eyes and grit his teeth, trying to hold back an irritated scream. To make matters worse, Maka was no longer going to live with him, the "strange, creepy guy," but with symmetry boy, Death the Kid. Oh how he just wanted to wring his neck or ransack his house to make everything uneven and asymmetrical, but he couldn't. He'd have to earn back Maka's trust and it won't be done if he did that to Kid. He'd never had to do this before. He always had Maka's trust, but he couldn't say the same about Maka's having his. He was used to having her trusting him with her life, her everything, that it felt wrong not to even hold a piece of her.

Tsubaki held Black Star back as the boy was only enraged further when none of his punches had made contact with its target. "Black Star! Stop this, please! Soul has been through enough!" She pleaded as she held Black Star's arms back on a death hold. "Please let him off this one time!"

Black Star let out an annoyed growl. "Fine. I'll show you mercy this time Soul, but only because I am the kind of god that shows kindness." Black Star stood in his overly confident post with the spotlight focused on him alone. When he got no cries of thanks, he glared at Soul again. "Don't ignore me! I am God!"

"Black Star!" Tsubaki shrieked as she pulled the boy out of the room by the back of his shirt. "Let's go check on Maka in the infirmary!"

Soul was alone in the classroom now, but he could care less. It's not like it would make a difference anymore. No matter where he went, he was alone. At school, here, now, he was alone. If he went home, it'd just be an empty apartment. With Blair at her job, she would return home at daybreak and sleep while he was at school. He never cared much about it since Maka was always there with him. This time, he was alone.

If the thought every occurred to him to go back to his old life with his family, he would be alone. No matter what, he only had himself. No friend at home. No partner to fight with. No idiot, flat chested know it all to hit him with an encyclopedia. When he thought about it like this, it all came back to the one important thing missing in his life. No Maka.

His fists had already clenched together, digging his nails in so deep that blood had slowly begun to drip from the wounds. Soul opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He breathed in... and all at once, he screamed his heart out. He let all his frustration, his stress and his sorrow out in that one big roar that echoed throughout the halls of Shibusen, even reaching the person that was the cause of it.

Soul breathed heavily, heaving in large breaths in and out. "Maka... How could you forget everything? Why is it only me that you've forgotten..?" He grumbled hoarsely, panting after every other word. "Why? After I tried so hard to say it..." Soul closed his eyes as if he were struck with pain. "After I tried to... tell you... that I... I... " He couldn't finish his sentence. He couldn't. It would only make him feel worse than he already was.

Dull and troubled eyes raised up to the ceiling, trying to find something there that might make a difference. "Maka, it's not that I regret trying to tell you. It's that you forgot what I was trying to say before you could even understand what it meant." Soul's eyebrows came together, creating a crease between them. "I don't think that... you understood what 'Souls in Love' really means. I'm sure that you didn't understand it."

Soul let his head drop in disappointment and hurt. He was losing her. No, to be more precise, he never had her to begin with, at least, that's what it was to Maka. To Soul, he was simply going to reclaim what is rightfully his. For Maka, she was about to be swept off her feet by a prince that was far from normal.

xXx

Soul made his resolve to take her back, so what the hell was he doing hiding from her whenever she turned a corner in his direction? It wasn't right; it was ridiculous! The day had started... well, can't say it was normal, but at least it was alright. He didn't have a nightmare like he had expected he would and he woke up on time so that he wouldn't be late.

Then, when the time came, he ran in the opposite direction of his prey. Why? Simple.

He had no idea what to do.

"What is this? I'm being retarded!" Soul whispered to himself scornfully. "Stop acting lame, and get Maka! You're supposed to be cool, right? Act like it!" He punched the side of one of Shibusen's walls angrily and tried to build up his self confidence. Soul brought himself together and headed for the classroom with a new air of determination around him.

Soul entered the bustling classroom coolly, with his hands jammed into his pockets and his easy going walk fooling the entire classroom that he was completely alright. From what he could tell, everyone had already found out about his and Maka's situation. Why else would they suddenly stop what they were doing when he entered the room and began whispering like squeaky little mice?

Making sure not to mess up, he took the empty seat beside Maka, as he always did, not at all acting as if there were anything wrong. "Hey Maka," he greeted easily, sitting down on his seat rather casually. Little did everyone know though, that inside the head of this calm weapon was a whirlwind of chaos that edged him away from reality, taking away his sanity and eating away at his courage.

The blonde glanced at him, giving him a slight nod of her head. She didn't say anything, probably still feeling uncomfortable hanging around this person. She then turned her head away from him, not once glancing back at him.

Soul said no more. It's not like how it normally was when he could say anything to her. He had to watch what he said for fear of scaring her off, making her even farther to reach. He wasn't so sure that this new Maka could accept him like she did before and that scared Soul. That scared him to his very core.

What would he do if Maka never came back to him? Find another partner? Impossible. There was no one that he could work with better than Maka. Even if there was, he'd never let that person wield him. Maka was his only master. The only one...

By the time Soul had come back to his senses, class was halfway through. His heart was beating unusually fast; he couldn't decipher why. Perhaps it was for fear of losing Maka or maybe... the thought of Maka alone. Soul understood that feeling. He understood that warm feeling that came over him when he thought of Maka, but that nice feeling wasn't what he was feeling; it was different. Then maybe it truly was fear. It was the fear of losing his meister.

His heart was being torn apart by fear. His mind was in flames as all the thoughts in his head were on a stand still and what little sanity he had when Maka was with him was slowly fading away from him.

Everything was becoming dull, the voices that tried to speak to him were distorted and out of tune and the grin that came upon his face frequently was nowhere to be seen. Soul didn't want to admit it, but all the vivid colors and distincts sounds around him were all monotonous and gray. He couldn't taste food and the smell of a delicious meal was no longer appetizing. He didn't want this to happen; the darkness was up to his knees now and he couldn't move. Could someone save him? Would anyone save him? ...No, the real question is: can he be saved at all?

Again, he had blanked out again. Soul let out a sigh. "What the hell... It's already over." He grumbled as he changed his position on the seat. Leisurely, he stretched his arms, letting out a long yawn in the process. "Did you understand any of that, Maka?" Soul turned his head slightly to capture an image of his -he didn't dare think it- _former_ technician. "...Maka?"

Maka didn't reply. She was too busy speaking to someone in the opposite direction of Soul. She was chatting lively and happily with this person and didn't seem all too concerned with the strange looks she was receiving from the other students.

Soul narrowed his eyes and looked past her shoulder. "Kid..." Soul mumbled under his breath dangerously.

Said technician was nodding happily as he listened to Maka rant on and on to him about what she had done the day before and the things she had done this morning. Liz and Patty were nowhere to be seen, but Kid didn't seem to notice their absence at all. He just laughed when Maka did and from Soul could tell, he wasn't just pretending like the way he himself usually did. Kid was listening to every word she said and when he made a comment, he meant it. When he laughed, he understood why he was laughing. When she was building up suspense, he knew it and purposely edged her on. He was doing everything Soul didn't do before.

Why the hell did this piss Soul off so much?

He grit his teeth angrily and stood from his seat, letting the chair fall back behind him loudly. His eyes were glued forward, not even bothering to peek at the two surprised meisters who had stopped their conversation to look at him. Truth was that he didn't _want _to look at them. It would just irk him all the more.

His hands were reaching for the sky for the black crept up farther, engulfing him little by little. He opened his mouth, but no cry escaped his lips. He was losing against the terror he couldn't face. What the darkness represented was terrifying. If it were to take him completely, Soul would no longer be and a new terror would befall all of Shibusen. It would certainly be a Kishin in the making.

Soul's hands fisted in his jacket pockets. He wasn't going to let that happen. No way. He had to get Maka back at all costs.

He rushed past Kid and Maka hurriedly, having the slight hope that Maka would notice the hint of sadness in him and follow him to make things better as she usually did. Then again, maybe he was hoping for too much. Why would she do that for a person she barely knew?

Soul ignored the call of his name by people he called friends. His eyebrows furrowed together in agitation. There's no way he could possibly face his friends; not to mention that he might just turn on one friend in particular if he got to close to him. Soul stormed out of the classroom without any hesitation and disappeared just as the others managed to make it out of the room.

"Soul?" Kid asked as he searched for Soul on either side of the hallway. "Where was he going in such a rush I wonder...?" He looked at Maka who was standing behind him without much expression on her face. "Do you know?"

Maka simply shrugged. "Why're you asking me? I don't know him." She instantly regretted asking. She knew that it was the wrong response from all the hurt expressions directed at her immediately. Her heart clenched, but she couldn't understand why. She was told the story again and again, but she couldn't bring herself to remember anything. There wasn't a trace of any person named Soul in her memory.

Even if it all made sense, she couldn't feel comfortable around him. It's like there was some kind of mechanism in her head telling her to avoid him. She had this feeling that she shouldn't deny it or something might happen, but at the same time she had this desperate feeling of pushing it away and just going to Soul without any thought necessary. But when it came to Maka, thought was everything. She wouldn't do anything unless it's been thought out and planned. Nothing would be done recklessly. Not anymore.

Maka's eyes were downcast, a thought striking her. Why? Why did she think that way? What had she done recklessly? What could have possibly happened that would make her do everything carefully? Was this a part of her missing memory? A memory with that person in it? Did he mean that much to her?

"That person named Soul..." Maka whispered subconsciously as she mindlessly followed the others. "...What exactly are you to me?" Her head began to ache slightly as a small throbbing at the back of her head began to come to her senses. It seemed like the more she thought about Soul, the more her head hurt.

Maka raised a hand to her head as she cringed at the pain. If she was going to regain her memories, the only way was to confront Soul. The only problem was that she wasn't sure her head would be able to take it.

"I'll have to try anyway," Maka resolved. "He feels... important to me. So I have to try."

"Maka?" Tsubaki asked curiously as she tilted her head to observe Maka. "Are you feeling okay? Does your head hurt?"

"Huh? Oh, no sorry." Maka removed her hand from her head and let it return to her side. "Let's get going." She took several more steps before stopping in her tracks. "Oh, wait a minute." Maka swung her bag around to have access to it. She opened it up only to start searching for something. "Ah! I forgot the textbook!"

"Did you forget something?" Kid chimed in, leaning around Tsubaki to look at Maka.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. You guys can go on ahead." She gave Kid an apologetic smile before dashing back to the classroom in hopes of finding her textbook.

Maka skidded to a stop in front of the classroom and headed up the stairs to her seat. She let out a relieved sigh as she spotted the two-inch textbook on her desk. Her fingers grasped the spine and dropped the book into her bag, weighing down the short girl even more. She exited the classroom with peace of mind now that she had everything she needed to study for the upcoming test.

A soft song drifted in the air as she walked down the hallway towards the exit. She didn't pay it much mind, but the song seemed familiar to her though she couldn't recall what the title was. She was just sure that she had heard it somewhere before, but her memory failed her as it tended to nowadays.

Maka shrugged it off. It'd come to her eventually; she was sure of it. How could she forget a song so beautiful?

Soul's fingers pressed key after key, each with just as much passion as the first. He was unrestricted this time for there was no one to watch him. He could play this song to its fullest because the reason for its exist was stronger than ever before. This song was the only thing now. The only thing he had left of what was.

"'Souls in Love,' Maka. Do you know what it means?" Soul had already ceased playing. "It means. 'Soul's in love.' Soul... is in love, Maka. Soul is in love with Maka... Why don't you know?" Soul slammed the cover over the keys angrily as he darted out of the room in anger. He couldn't forgive himself for not telling her directly, he hated that witch for messing with Maka's memories, but most of all, he was enraged with Maka who forgot him as easily as she forgot the rules to basketball.

Not caring which hallway he was going, Soul absentmindedly rushed from hall to hall, unsure of which direction he was going. For all he knew, he could have been going in circles the whole time, but it didn't occur to him at all. Before he knew it, he was face to face with the person he couldn't get out of his thoughts.

"Maka..." Soul breathed out in surprise. "What are you still doing here?"

"Oh, I was just about to leave," she replied uncomfortably. "What were you doing?"

His heart was racing; his mind stopped functioning; all he knew was that Maka was here, in front of him right now, speaking to him. Soul stepped forward, but stopped himself halfway through. He couldn't. She might refuse him, and that would surely send him down to the darkest of black.

"I... I'm not really doing anything. Just walking around, I suppose." Soul murmured disappointedly.

"I see... Well, I'm going to get going now." Maka replied rather quickly, already rushing to get past Soul. It was wrong but she couldn't help herself. She reminded herself of her resolve from earlier, but it was too soon. Too unexpected. She wasn't prepared for anything yet.

Soul's hand clenched into a fist just as Maka walked by. "Wait!" He said suddenly as he took a hold of her arm in a tight grip.

"What are you doing?" Maka exclaimed as she immediately tried to pull away from him.

He said nothing at first and simply stared her in the eye. "Maka I..." He hesitated, unsure of whether he should give it his all. Soul took a deep breath and knew that he had to say this or it would never be done. "Maka, no matter what, I'm going to make you remember me. Even if I have to make you relive it all." Soul whispered. "I'll do anything to have you back."

As quickly as it happened, it ended just the same. Maka stood in the hallway, still in the same position as when he held her. She could only watch his back retreat into the other end of the hall and down a corner. It was Maka's turn to recall the event. Had she heard him right? Did he really just say that? Did he just say that...

"He would make me relive my memories?" Maka questioned.

xXx

TA: Ahh! I'm so sorry everyone! It's taken me so long to update! D: I did say that I would take long though! D: Well, no matter, it's up now. I just can't guarantee the arrival of the fourth one being anytime soon. Thanks for the reviews everyone! I really love you all!


	4. A Capella

TA: Wow... It's been over a year since I last updated. _I am sooo sorry_. Several things happened to make this update super late, I swear. I don't want to make excuses, but I think you guys have the right to now if you decided to read this after such the long wait, which I greatly appreciate. D: So the first thing that happened was DoMo; it was my first MMORPG and those are _extremely_ addictive, esp. if it's your first one. Second, my flashdrive spontaneously combusted on me! Well, not really, but it's long gone, along with the rough draft I had for this chapter (which took me several tries to start) along with its ideas. And third, _high school _happened. Last year was just... _death_. I think I died a little inside after last year...

Little side note here: I caught up on the recent chapters of SE and it turns out that Soul actually _does_ become a death scythe in the manga. :( Which kinda puts my story in a bit of a pickle, doesn't it? Well, let's just say that this is on a different timeline, but everything that happened with Chrona remains the same (the church incident anyway). I _did_ start this story shortly after they infiltrated Baba Yaga's Castle, y'know. D: And that was about 20 chapters ago.

**Dedication: **Yeah, no SE fact this time. I only ever got past episode 1, haha! No, this time, it's a dedication to One Manga, one of the best manga hosting sites I have _ever_ been on, which is sadly going to be taken off sometime this week. I've been with you guys for nearly 4 years now! It's like I'm losing an old friend. D: I just want to say "Thank you for all your hard work" because without OM, this story wouldn't even exist. So, _thank you_.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater**.

**Love's Melody**

**Chapter 4: A Capella**

**xXx**

_"Hey Papa, who's that?"_

_"He's the youngest of the Evans family. His name is Soul Eater."_

Maka stirred in her sleep, throwing about her blankets restlessly as sweat dripped from her forehead, drenching her pillow momentarily. She gripped the sheets tightly, her knuckles shifting to a troubling white, tossing her head in every which way with every second. Quick, unsteady breaths escaped her lips in hot pants as her dream continued on, sentencing her to a life unfamiliar.

_"It was a surprise to a lot of people, but he's actually a weapon."_

_"Really? That's weird. None of the other Evans have the blood of a weapon right?"_

Maka's mind floated above, hanging silently in the air to watch the scene from above. She gazed down curiously at herself, recognizing the scene somewhere in her dimmed memory. She knew this place; she'd been here before, but this much was clear.

_"Yes, that's right. Maka, do you want to talk to him? I'm pretty sure he's about your age."_

That question. What had she answered to that again? Didn't she deny it? Her eyes wandered over to Soul, who stood casually, leaning against the wall in a stance not suited for a gentleman of his stature, and yet he looked like he could conquer the world. He had this aura about him that drew her to him, she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it, for sure, was not the feeling she felt when she faced him in reality. What was this exactly? A dream? A memory? Whatever it was, she was sure she walked away from the offer.

_"Yeah, okay. He looks pretty lonely anyway." Young Maka approached the solemn boy with a smile, extending her hand and proclaiming herself as Maka Albarn, the scythe technician, and as she did so, Soul would become captivated with her confidence, if not her alone._

Maka drifted down to the point where her feet could touch the ground, making her way through the crowd to view the scene more clearly. This wasn't what happened, not from what she could recall, but... was she really in the position to base something off of _her_ memory? As she drew ever nearer, the beating of her heart quickened to a fast-paced, adrenaline rush.

Soon she found herself running through the stray bodies that blocked her path, pushing them aside without care of what ruckus it might have caused. She wanted to see it. She wanted to see the end, or perhaps, as a better word, _the beginning_.

There, she reached the pair exchanging greetings and introductions just as the upbeat song in the background switched to a slow, steady beat, a couple's song. Maka stood beside herself, sharing in the moment to stare at Soul's face, that tired, sluggish face that hinted at artistry, but was most accented by his sweet smile. He held out his hand, waiting for her to take it before he spoke.

_Badump, badump_

The beating of her hearts synched, sucking her spirit into her younger body, the one Soul faced kindly and the one he held out his hand for. He moved his lips, but she couldn't quite catch it. Her body seemed to be on auto pilot though, as she grasped his hand and nodded with a smile of her own. She relished in the feel of their touching hands, the connection of their souls, _of their hearts_.

_"Will you dance with me?"_

A soft gasp from her lips ended that sweet romance, the effervescent dance of their hearts before it had a chance to begin. A few tears mingled with the drops of sweat on her pillow, staining her reddened face. They just slipped past her eyes as she gazed at the ceiling, unmoving and dazed. What had she dreamt again? She didn't know. She forgot again.

There was an aching in her chest, but she didn't try to give way to it; she wanted to savor this heartbreak, hoping to bring back the fleeting images that had passed through her hazy mind. Needles. That's what it was like. Needles piercing her heart in all directions, weaving threads of sorrow to leave patches of pain. Needles on her skin, but the tingling that remained... she liked. It felt familiar, like the caress of an old lover, or the touch of an old friend that had gone and passed. A feeling filled with memories only her body seemed to remember.

She blinked away the last of her tears. What was it again?

xXx

Maka pushed open her bedroom window to be greeted by a soft breeze flitting through the symmetrical maroon curtains, lifting her blonde locks from her shoulders and into the air. Her eyes hurt, and she knew why... but not exactly. Sometime during the night, she had dreamed a sad dream and tears had flowed, but what about she wasn't sure. She just knew that it hurt her, and that was enough to not ask why.

"Why can't I remember it?" Maka frowned, shutting the window exasperatedly. She cast her eyes to her untidy bed with pillows scattered on the floor, half the blanket pushed off the bed and parts of the bedsheet coming off the mattress. If she hadn't known better, she'd have thought there was a struggle in her room, but she did know better, and she knew that it was all her doing. _Something_ compelled her to act like a madwoman in the night, but she couldn't remember what. Wasn't that all too strange?

Soul Eater Evans.

The blonde pursed her lips and sat at the foot of the bed, her fingers interlaced and woven together. Her lips pressed against them lightly and elbows propped against her knees. Was it him?

Maka let out an aggravated groan, throwing her hands up in the air when she could only draw a large question mark the size of Death City. Throwing herself back onto the messy bed, she fixated her eyes on the ceiling patterns. Perfectly symmetrical. As if a line were drawn to cut the room in half, each side had a partner on the other. A star could be drawn on the left and without doubt, there would be another star of equal magnificence drawn on the right.

"Partner." Maka whispered, lifting her hand up to the imaginary symmetry line. "Who is mine?"

That emptiness in her heart... Was it because she hadn't found a weapon for herself yet? Yes, that's got to be it. It has to be... She was a scythe technician without a scythe; what good was she? Maka closed her eyes, letting her hand linger in place. She had a weapon though, or so they said. It was him. Soul Eater.

_"Maka, no matter what, I'm going to make you remember me. Even if I have to make you relive it all."_

She shuddered at his voice, the sultry tone of his statement, the sweet passion laced in each letter. This wasn't just a figment of her imagination, no, his sincerity was real. The thought of Soul made her both happy and pained; she just didn't know which was the correct reaction.

Perhaps if she wielded him... If she could touch him as a weapon, she would remember, she would-

Maka let out a mind blowing cry as she doubled over on her bed, clutching at her head in writhing misery. Every corner of her head was being assaulted, pounding at every available space, purposely trying to break her, shatter her, dissolve her train of thought to nothing. It took all she had to not dig her rigid fingers into her skull, knowing that doing so would only further cause her pain, but if this continued on, she wasn't sure she'd make it.

"M-Maka!" Liz cried out, bursting into the room and instantly lunging to the other girl's side, her eyes wide with worry and face wraught with distress. "H-Hang in there! Maka!" Nothing else seemed to register into her brain as she was beginning to get lost in a sea of white, a flurry of nothingness, of white absence.

What good was she? A technician without a weapon. She could cry and no one would hear. Her voice would get lost in the noise, or lack thereof, and no one would come for her. She, too, was alone. So she could cry, cry for the world to hear, but not a single hand would be held out to her.

_"Will you dance with me?"_

Her head was being hammered down into oblivion as the question seeped through the depths of her subconsciousness. Who said it?

In the imageless white, she held her arms close to her, hands to her chest and head held high. If someone could just hold her hand to lead... She sang. She sang a song, distorted, out of tune and lacking in any sort of proper rhythm... but she sang. Her soft, lone voice reverberated off the infinite color, unaccompanied by music or even another voice.

A song without a tune. A technician without a weapon. A voice without an instrument. She continued to sing her melody, waiting for a response, anything to steal her back into reality. She didn't want to remain alone, to be a single, unheard voice. She had read a term for it once. She wasn't quite sure where, but she knew it.

_"I'll do anything to have you back."_

Oh, that's right. The term was... 'a capella.'

xXx

"I don't know if this is such a good idea Soul." Liz's mouth slanted in a wary line as she observed the boy fix his tie in the mirror, clad in all black, aside from his crimson shirt beneath his stylish jacket.

Soul Eater grinned sharply at the mirror, briefly popping his collar before flashing Liz with a charming, uncharacteristic smile. Without much effort, his hair had been fixed in such a style that the way it framed his face looked professional, almost adult-like, not the Soul that was usually quite a brat with his messy stylings. No, this Soul was different.

He raked a gifted hand through his soft hair as his other hand was casually hidden away in his pants pocket, creating a look of utterly beautiful grandeur. This was no longer just Soul Eater; this was Soul Eater Evans.

"Don't worry too much." With that, he headed out of the room, wearing an outfit he'd long since discarded. It only brought him bad memories of nonsensical parties among the rich and spoiled, none of which he cared to remember. All but one.

Soul smiled warmly. As he neared the large, golden double doors to the Shibusen ballroom, he whispered to himself, "Memory number one."

He had a good feeling about this. It was the first time in days he'd felt confident about what he was about to do. Surely with this, she would remember, that instance at the very least. It may not have been at Shibusen, but it was close enough. He'd ask for that slow song to play just as he'd ask her to dance and in that dance, surely she'd remember.

"Of course she would," Soul assured himself quietly as he stood center stage in the ballroom, beneath the glowing chandelier, waiting for his meister, his friend, his...

The lights began to dim until all was black. This is not the black that Soul feared; this black that gave rise to anticipation, unbearable excitement and sheer joy. Not a single sound was made as the sound of innocent heels clicked and clacked against the floors of Shibusen, making their way to the ballroom steadily and unwaveringly. Every heart in the room was pounding in anxiousness, waiting to see the blonde's face when she entered.

A crack of light peeked into the dim room as the door opened slowly, the sliver of lighting reaching the tip of Soul's polished shoe. He grinned as he could already make out the silhouette of his meister, her dangling pigtails with its loose ribbons, the black dress that clung tightly to her shoulders and even the gloved hands pushing against the golden doors.

The two stared at each other for a while, neither one really making a move for the other. Soul continued to stand in the hallway's lighting, just barely enough for Maka to make out his form, and Maka stood at the doorway, skeptical of the whole situation.

Soul spoke, loudly and clearly, his voice resonating throughout the ballroom, "My name is Soul Eater Evans, a weapon, a _scythe_."

Feeling the need to introduce herself also, Maka answered back in a reply she felt like she had regurgitated from long ago, "My name is Maka Albarn, the scythe technician." She grinned at Soul as he himself grinned at her response. With that simple introduction, it was like seeing Soul in a whole new light. She couldn't comprehend the meaning of their introduction.

Soul held out his hand in a strangely familiar stance, an enchanting smile across his face.

Maka's heart skipped a beat. She still couldn't understand.

"Will you dance with me?"

_"Will you dance with me?"_

Her legs buckled slightly, hearing the question echo in her head, repeating, reverberating, resounding in different tones and distortions. She had heard this question before, she was sure of it. Her head was aching again, the hammers continuing in their work once again, but at least... at least the needles were gone.

She brought one heeled foot forward, then the other, the next one... Maka finally confronted Soul, standing no more than an arm's length away. She bit her lip from screaming; it hurt; it hurt more than words could describe, an impalpable pain attacking, retreating, and assaulting her once more with an attack tenfold of its last. By logic, she should have been on the ground crying and whimpering, but there was something she had to do.

She had to take this hand.

"I will."

Light began to lift the darkness from the ballroom in the form of dangling chandeliers and incandescent candles. As the ballroom took form, so did the many other people in the room, face after face, friend after friend appeared around them, surrounding them with their light, their souls and their hopes.

A slow beat began to play from the band as meister and technician looked at each other in the eye for the first time in what seemed like eons.

Soul placed his left hand around Maka's waist, pulling her ever closer, not knowing what he was causing her internally. He waited for her to assume the proper position before beginning the first dance of the night.

Maka cringed as she pressed her hand against Soul's broad shoulder, swaying along with him to the rhythm of the beat, the melody of the song. The pain didn't lessen with their dance, only increased with each step, but she continued on. She needed to see this through. She couldn't remember why, she just knew, so, for the first time in her life, she let her body control her movements and ignored the swirling thoughts in her head.

She brought her mind to a standstill, numbing out the pain and the confusion in her muddled head. This dance felt _right_, as if she belonged here, to follow in his stead and move where he lead. Maka gripped his hand unknowingly, a rush of nostalgia coming over her.

Slowly, their surroundings began to change and transform. The simple flooring of the Shibusen ballroom suddenly took on designs too elaborate for a school, the walls were decorated with paintings more suited for the interior of a mansion and even the friends that had decided to dance alongside them took on a shape unrecognizable.

The song remained the same; her partner was still Soul. She danced with him.

"Maka!" Soul's urgent cry went unanswered as Maka dropped to her knees, gripping onto his hand like no tomorrow. The boy held her in his arms as she dug her nails into his skin, wincing but never pulling away. He tucked her head under his chin, wrapping his arm around her shaking body. "Maka, I'm sorry. Come back, please. Remember me."

His heart was crying with her, ripping apart any hope he had. As he held her, he began to wonder if it was really Maka shaking or if it was him. He was lost, perhaps even more than she. How much more he could bear to take... He was sure it wasn't much.

"Please... Please..." He chanted, closing his eyes in an attempt to calm himself. The darkness seeped up, passing his legs, his torso. He was ready to drown, neck deep in the blackest of black. "Please..."

The beautiful house that had replaced Shibusen's walls vanished with her wails, her voice shattering what little fantasy that had come to play. She wanted to see more of it... The dance, the memory...

"S-Soul," Maka choked, pressing herself even closer to the trembling weapon, only to have the pain multiply in pressure. Tears flowed in hot streams, her mouth began to ache, and her voice was already breaking. Was Soul really the answer?

Soul's breath hitched for a moment. "Do you remember something? Tell me, Maka!" He shook the unstable girl desperately, trying to extract an answer from her. "What do you remember?" Soul exclaimed, losing himself a bit in his anger and worry.

_"Soul__-__ scythe__-__...__-__dance__-__ me?"_

"I'm sorry!" With a great push, Maka shoved the weapon onto the ground and ran as fast as she could out of the ballroom, leaving everyone dumbfounded and frozen. She sprinted through the hallways, heart racing and breathing uneven, not bothering in what direction she was going. The farther away she got, the lesser the pain was, but in exchange for the hammers, needles prickled against her once again in the very places Soul had held her.

She hated herself. She hated that look that Soul had when she pushed him away. She hated the expression of betrayal from not only Soul, but everyone in the ballroom. She hated everything.

Maka came to a stop next to a classroom, leaning against the closed door. Behind her, she could hear the call of her name, a voice in particular standing out like a sore thumb to her. She wasn't ready. Maka grasped the doorknob and let herself in, hiding for the time being.

The classroom wasn't actually a classroom, but a music room. She'd never been there before, yet...

Maka slid her fingers across the cover of the piano keys, dragging it along as she walked alongside it. The piano, the only thing that drew her in like a planet in orbit. She circled it a couple of times, admiring the beauty of its sleek black painting and the perfectly tuned keys. Wait... How did she know it was tuned?

Her mouth slid into a frown as she paused in her orbit, taking a seat on the stool. Her fingers traced invisible lettering on the cover before carefully lifting it to uncover a set of glistening white keys under the Death City moon. Music isn't something she knew well, but she had an uncanny attraction to pianos, she noticed. Pianos and the pianists.

On impulse, her finger hovered over a single key to her right and pressed down against it, emitting a single note into the asymmetrical music room.

"G." A voice stated from the doorway. "Such a Maka note." He laughed as he made his way toward her, noticing the way she tensed from his voice, but still he continued his stride. "I don't believe that you've forgotten Maka."

Maka snapped her hand back to her lap, pretending to have never laid a finger on the grand piano.

Soul stood directly behind her now. He leaned forward, replacing the cover and leaning against it for support. He tilted his head so his voice would reach her ears directly, not caring if the position made her uncomfortable.

She could feel his warm breath against her neck, the relentless needles focusing their attention on the area in response. Maka gulped visibly, but tried to hide her nervousness.

"I didn't want to have to do this to you Maka."

Maka's eyes widened as she shot up from the stool, whirling around at Soul in horror. His hands were already unbuttoning the front of his tuxedo, tossing it aside when it was successfully off. There was a different kind of pounding inside Maka as Soul's hands began their work on his crimson shirt. One button, then two... Her eyes followed his hands, her own gripping the side of the piano. Soul wouldn't... He wouldn't...

Unwillingly, Maka licked her dry lips, biting her bottom lip anxiously as he reached the bottom of his shirt. "S-Soul, th-this is..."

The determined boy lifted a leg onto the stool separating them, closing in on the distance. "You have to face this again, Maka. Just like before." Soul reached for her hand, strangely enough, without resistance from the other.

Maka head swirled in confusion. What was happening? She and Soul were only meister and technician! Wasn't that the case? Was there something more than that? Not a single memory came to mind as Soul grasped her hand, too caught up in her chaotic thoughts to put up a fight.

Soul brushed aside part of his opened shirt, a large scar crossing his chest, glistening in the moonlight like a proud declaration of honor. It shone in the dim lighting as he clasped her hand against the mark, settling it between his hand and his chest.

"Remember, Maka? The troubles we faced as partners?" Soul gazed longingly into his meister's eyes, searching for a hint of understanding. He found none. Instead, she only looked confused and puzzled. "This scar... you made such a big deal of it." He chuckled painfully. "We so nearly lost our ability to work together because of this. You have to remember, Maka. At least this..."

"Soul... I..." She shook her head frowning. "I don't... I don't see anything."

_Maka... Let my heart come in touch with your SOUL._

xXx

TA: Whoo! Chapter 4 is done! That last line was actually from one of SE's early chapters. I decided I liked it so I added it in. :P I hope everyone liked this chapter! I realize my portrayals are a bit off now that the manga has progressed and music is actually a big part of Soul and Maka's connection. -cough- So, I apologize for that. Even so, I hope you continue to read this story!

Y'know what funny? The original genres for this story were romance/humor. Pfft! I don't see _any_ humor at all. So I changed it to romance/angst. More fitting, yeah? I just have to say this before I go: I love Soul in the latest chapters. He looks _wonderful_ in casual clothing and not his original outfit. It's attractive, yeah? :P Also, for all the SoulxMaka fans, I suggest reading the latest chapters... It's just pure _love_.

Let's just say it involves love letters, gender bending and jealousy. :) Interested yet? Haha, okay, okay! To wrap it all up, please review and tell me how I'm doing!


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